Our approach
Young people’s participation is fundamental to our approach. This means that our group’s members consult their peers, choose activities and trips, help plan events, and volunteer with our Rise Up Project.

Young Roots involves young people in the development, planning and delivery of our work, as well as in the recruitment of new staff members. We take feedback and ideas from young people very seriously and will be developing this work further over the next year.

Our impact
The young refugees and asylum seekers we support face many challenges including language barriers, lack of education, social isolation, economic hardship and navigating complex legal and care systems.

“When I came to this club I didn’t have confidence. Now I have more confidence to speak with a group”
(16 year old girl)

Our activities reduce young refugees and asylum seekers’ social isolation and enable them to make friends:”Young people gain a lot from having a positive environment to spend time in where they can learn new skills and spend time with each other. Young Roots creates an environment where they belong and the groups are very popular. Young people in Croydon have places to go where they feel safe.”
(Red Cross, Caseworker)

Our activities increase young refugees and asylum seekers’ support networks and ability to problem-solve:“I have learned what to do when I feel stressed, how to sleep better and I’ve got better at dealing with stuff.”
(17 year old boy)